Bullocking centre Konrad Hurrell will return to action for the Warriors in their NRL match against Newcastle after recovering from a foot injury.
The 20-year-old Tongan, who has 12 tries from the same number of appearances in his debut season, missed Friday’s 10-8 loss to Brisbane.
Hurrell signed a contract extension keeping him at the Auckland-based club until the end of 2015 last Saturday and coach Brian McClennan says he’ll be eager to shine at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
“We’re naturally pleased to have Konnie available again and it’ll be great for him to play in front of our home crowd just a few days after being signed up on a new contract,” he said.
Hurrell will replace Lewis Brown at right centre with Brown joining Sione Lousi, Jacob Lillyman, Steve Rapira and Omar Slaimankhel on a five-man bench named on Tuesday.
McClennan says the Warriors are happy to see Hurrell restored to the starting line-up but are also keen to get back to winning ways after slipping up against the Broncos.
“While it’s good to have him back, our focus is on the need to keep improving. We’ve done well for long periods in a lot of games lately but dropping the two points against the Broncos last week was really tough to take.”
The Warriors are ninth, two points outside a playoff position, with seven games of the season remaining.